US Commodore Matthew Perry’s black ships forcibly opened Japan to the outside world in 1854 after a period of 200 years of isolationism.

The Japanese weren’t prepared for this drastic change so the riots throughout the country started. The Shogunate attempted to repress the rebels but the samurai clans united and proclaimed loyalty to the Emperor and hostility to the foreigners, rallying behind the slogan “Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians”. This story takes place in those turbulent times.